Scientists identify the roots of violent behavior in the brain

Illustration of the hypothalamus in a human brain. Image: SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Science Photo Library/Corbis TALAL AL-KHATIB for Discovery News 2016-03-08 19:36:33 UTC Follow @dnews Thinking about doing something that you shouldn’t? Those bad intentions originate from a specific part of the brain, and a new study published in Nature Neuroscience identified just where that is. The warning signs of premeditated violence turn up in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that also regulates temperature, hunger and sleep. Specifically, the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, or VMHvl, is the area responsible for our ill will. Understanding the neurological underpinning of aggressive actions in the brain could provide scientists with new therapeutic techniques for controlling these behaviors, which has implications for violent crime prevention. However, any treatments to that effect are…